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"&lt;p&gt;Britain's Next on Thursday joined a growing list of European clothing retailers suspending new production orders with factories in Myanmar in the wake of February's military coup.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Myanmar has been rocked by protests since the army overthrew the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1 citing unsubstantiated claims of fraud in a November election.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At least 536 civilians have been killed in protests, 141 of them on Saturday, the bloodiest day of the unrest, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Myanmar is known globally for its yarn, fabric and textile products, and its garment industry is a key source of jobs.&lt;/p&gt;.&lt;p&gt;\"We're not placing any more orders at the moment, that is a big step,\" CEO Simon Wolfson told Reuters after Next reported annual results.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"We don't source a lot of our product from Myanmar but most of the stock that we were sourcing from Myanmar...we have alternatives in place already for that stock in other countries.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Next's orders previously going to Myanmar have now been split between Bangladesh, Cambodia and China.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wolfson said Myanmar provided less than 5 per cent of Next's total stock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Wednesday, Associated British Foods said its Primark fashion business had paused orders in Myanmar, following similar moves from Sweden's H&amp;M, the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, and Italy's Benetton Group.&lt;/p&gt;.&lt;p&gt;On Monday Italian clothing retailer OVS said it would keep its \"limited presence\" in Myanmar but would stop its business with suppliers acting in a discriminatory way towards workers involved in rallies against the country's junta.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Britain's Marks &amp; Spencer said it is continuing with its booked orders but keeping future orders under review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Separately on Thursday, Britain sanctioned a Myanmar conglomerate for its close links to the military leadership which Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said was wantonly killing innocent people including children.&lt;/p&gt;"
<https://en.prothomalo.com/business/global/uks-next-pauses-myanmar-orders-switching-to-bangladesh-cambodia-china>